Your second semester final assessment for this English class will take the form of an essay. You will write a
\nsynthesis hybrid essay that argues something about America and\/or what it means to be American and does so using
\na variety of kinds of evidence to develop that argument.
\nThe literature we\u2019ve read this year has spanned over 150 years ofAmerican writing and has been grounded in over
\n200 years ofAmerica\u2019s history. When you consider that most of you have also studied United States history this
\nyear in your social studies classes, you should be well prepared to write about today\u2019s United States ofAmerica and
\nhow the USA of the near and distant past may have shaped and influenced our present day United States. But,
\nrather than writing this essay using history as your evidence, you\u2019ll use a variety ofAmerican texts and your own
\nexperiences as an American living in today\u2019s America.
\nMore importantly, you should be prepared to write an essay\u2014using all of your experience in the study of how an
\nessayist combines form and content, style and ideas, evidence and analysis\/reflection\u2014that is thoughtful and bold
\nin arguing its idea, creative and intelligent in its structure, precise and purposeful in its use of language.
\nThe Details:
\nThis final essay should be between 5-7 double-spaced typed pages (use Times New Roman, size 12, please). The
\nessay should have a cover page (not included among the 5-7 pages) with the essay\u2019s title, Junior English 2nd
\nSemester Final Essay, teacher\u2019s name, author\u2019s name, class period, date. The essay is due, submitted via the
\nappropriate link in Schoology, by the start of your class\u2019s scheduled Final Exam time slot:
\n\u25cf 8th period: Tuesday, May 30 at 8:10 am
\n\u25cf 6th period: Tuesday, May 30 at 1:10 pm
\n\u25cf 5th period: Wednesday, May 31 at 8:10 am
\nYou may submit the essay late, but only if submitted within 24 hours of the due date and at a penalty of two full
\nletter grades. In other words, do not submit the essay late.
\nThe Focus:
\nAs I stated above, the essay must use evidence and develop an argument or idea (in other words, you must take a
\nposition here). This does not mean the essay must be driven by a single guiding argument (claim or thesis) that is
\nexplicitly stated as such (although it might be). It simply means that the essay must argue an idea; it must say
\nsomething; it must have a focus, a direction.
\nThe Evidence:
\nAbove I provided you with a sense of the Final Essay\u2019s expected purpose; now we must talk about its evidence.
\nOne of the challenges of this essay will be to argue an idea using a variety of forms of evidence. Your essay must
\nuse four different types of evidence:
\nEvidence Category #1 \u2013 Full-Length text: The Tortilla Curtain
\nEvidence Category #2 \u2013 Personal narrative: what you carry in you (memories, experiences, stories, events,
\nmoments); your lived experience
\nEvidence Category #3 \u2013 Full-Length text (must use at least ONE): The Falconer, The Catcher in the Rye, The
\nGreat Gatsby, Salvage the Bones, The Kentucky Cycle
\nEvidence Category #4 \u2013 alternate \u201ctext\u201d (must use at least ONE): Essay \u2013 From \u201cWalden; or Life in the Woods,\u201d
\n\u201cKnowing Our Place,\u201d \u201cLiving Like Weasels,\u201d \u201cBear,\u201d \u201cA Presentation ofWhales,\u201d \u201cThe Work ofLocal Culture,\u201d
\n\u201cEverything is a Human Being,\u201d \u201cLiking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts,\u201d \u201cThe Next Walk You Take Could
\nChange Your Life\u201d Poem \u2013 \u201cA Ritual to Read to Each Other,\u201d \u201cLet America Be America Again,\u201d \u201cA New National
\nAnthem,\u201d \u201cPraise Song for the Day,\u201d \u201cI Hear America Singing\u201d Film \u2013 Crash
\nOVER
\nThe Form:
\nIn terms of form and structure, you may write this hybrid essay in whatever form and\/or structure best suits you
\nand\/or the ideas explored within the essay; as you know, the essay continuum allows for many different types and
\nstructures. One condition, though: a superior essay will synthesize evidence in the service of developing ideas.
\nIn other words, the essay should not be constructed around discussing one text in the first section, then focus
\non another text in the next section, then spend the next section sharing a personal story, and then talk about
\nyet another text in another section. Your essay should explore and develop ideas, not simply list evidence as
\nexamples.
\nThe Evaluation:
\nBelow, with adjustments made for the final essay\u2019s required elements, are the standards I use when evaluating
\nessays. Pluses and minuses represent gradations ofdifference. Your final essay will be evaluated based on the
\nessay itself, not on effort or time spent.
\nA = Outstanding in every way (this does not mean perfect). This is a bold, original and perceptive essay that explores
\ninteresting, complex ideas and does so with well-chosen evidence. The discussion reveals the writer\u2019s knowledge of the
\ntexts (it doesn\u2019t simply repeat what we\u2019ve talked about in class). There is a context for all the ideas; its paragraphs are
\ncoherent and well developed, and their ordering reveals a clear and logical sense of purpose; someone outside the class
\nwould be enriched, not confused, by reading the essay. Its argument is clearly and fully established. The language is
\nclean, precise and maybe even graceful. The writer\u2019s investment in the ideas is evident. The essay meets all requirements
\nof the assignment, including meeting identified expectations for form and structure, attempting to answer a question,
\nexploring and arguing something about America and\/or what it means to be American, and artfully using the four
\ndifferent necessary types of evidence: (1) The Tortilla Curtain, (2) personal narratives\/experiences, (3) at least one other
\nfull-length text from throughout the year in English, and (4) at least one other \u201calternate\u201d text (essay\/poem\/film).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your second semester final assessment for this English class will take the form of an essay. You will write a synthesis hybrid essay that argues something about America and\/or what it means to be American and does so using a variety of kinds of evidence to develop that argument. The literature we\u2019ve read this year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"disciplines":[186],"paper_types":[],"tagged":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/20965"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/questions"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/20965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=20965"},{"taxonomy":"paper_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper_types?post=20965"},{"taxonomy":"tagged","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tagged?post=20965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}